There are "very compelling reasons" not to launch a new coal mine on the Cumbrian coast, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said.
The Business Secretary was speaking after Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said last week a public inquiry would be launched into the application for a deep mine near Whitehaven.
The application has proven controversial, with local councillors keen for it to go ahead, while politicians such as shadow business Secretary Ed Miliband and the Green Party's Caroline Lucas are among those to have spoken out against it.
Mr Kwarteng, when asked why he was not stepping in to stop the development, told BBC Radio 4's Today: "Essentially what we've done is pretty much that.
"We're looking at it, it is part of a planning process.
"Initially, I think the relevant secretary of state (Mr Jenrick) said he wouldn't go against the local planning decision, but he is now looking at that again and I think there were very compelling reasons to do as the CCC (Climate Change Committee) suggested and not open the mine."
Pressed on whether he was saying it should not open, the Cabinet minister added: "What I said was that we're going through a process, it is a legal process, a local planning process, and the Secretary of State for Local Government is reviewing that situation."
